LMX and TMX as resources for work engagement and performance: Gender inequalities in the hybrid work context

Juliette Vassallo, Valentina Dolce, Emilie Vayre

First published November 12, 2025

Abstract

In 2022, with the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, home-based teleworking has gradually given way
to hybrid working. This research aims to understand how socio-organizational resources, namely leader-member
exchanges (LMX) and team-member exchanges (TMX), influence indicators of quality of life at work, such as work
engagement, satisfaction with work-life balance, and perceived individual performance at work. An online questionnaire
was distributed in a large French public administration in 2022. A total of 570 responses, including 170 men and 398
women, were analyzed using a multi-group structural equation model via Mplus. For women, the results show that the
quality of exchanges with the manager influences their satisfaction with work-life balance and work engagement. In
contrast, for men, the quality of relationships with other members of their team has a higher effect on satisfaction with
work-life balance, work engagement, as well as on perceived individual performance, compared to the women’s group.
Finally, by discussing theoretical and practical issues, we highlight that an HR policy that has not been explicitly designed
to ensure equality of resources can have a deleterious impact on hybrid workers, especially women.

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Vassallo Juliette . Dolce Valentina . Vayre Emilie . LMX and TMX as resources for work engagement and performance: Gender inequalities in the hybrid work context. BPA Applied Psychology Bulletin. 2025;14.